“We Are Still Here” makes a concerted effort to mimic the style of certain 70s/early ’80s supernatural thrillers — Lucio Fulci’s “The House by the Cemetery” (1981) is one clear model here, with its slightly “off” foreigner’s vision of American life and crude yet effective ghoul in the basement. Ted Geoghegan’s feature directing debut somewhat awkwardly straddles straight-up horror and tongue-in-cheek homage, its humor seldom foregrounded yet still sufficiently omnipresent to somewhat undermine the scares. Still, genre fans with a sense of history should make this entertaining chiller a sought-after item for midnight slots, and a welcome pickup for specialty home-format distribbers.

A rare horror exercise whose characters are nearly all well into middle age, “We Are Still Here” introduces the Sacchettis as they drive toward their new home in upstate New York in the dead of winter. Both are grieving the recent loss of their only child, Bobby, in a car accident, but hope the move will provide some distance from that tragedy for Anne (Barbara Crampton, “Re-Animator”) in particular, who’s clearly suffering from major depression. To the dismay of her husband, Paul (Andrew Sensenig), however, she immediately claims to feel Bobby’s “presence” in their new digs.

More Reviews

Offering another possible explanation for that perception of restless spirits are their neighbors Dave (Monte Markham) and Cat (Connie Neer), who drop by to introduce themselves one night. Before abruptly departing, Dave spills lore about the very old house’s earliest days, when it was operated as a funeral home by a family that met a tragic end at the hands of angry townspeople. Hinting at dark incidents that have plagued occupants ever since, Dave smirks, “It’s been 30 years since we’ve had fresh souls in this house.” Needless to say, it eventually emerges that the house requires fresh souls to consume every, oh, 30 years or so.

At first, only Anne notices poltergeist-type disturbances around the ramshackle 110-year-old structure, but even Dave can’t deny the pervasive smoky smell or inexplicably high temperatures in the creepy cellar. The latter complaints bring a visit by an electrician (Marvin Patterson) whose unnoticed demise is the first and scariest here. Showing up soon afterward to offer the Sacchettis moral support are Jacob (Larry Fessenden) and May (Lisa Marie), aging hippies who are a bit left-field for Paul’s taste. But while Paul rolls eyes at Jacob’s unreconstructed stonerdom, Anne wants to tap May’s alleged psychic abilities to figure out just what is going on in the house.

The swiftly paced pic introduces more cannon fodder in the form of Jacob and May’s college-age son (Michael Patrick) and his g.f. (Kelsea Dakota), as well as various townies who prove menacingly invested in these newcomers staying put. Pretty soon, the “hungry darkness” that wakes up every three decades in this abode is having a human smorgasbord.

Crampton’s ever-fretful Anne aside, the performances here often have an exaggerated comedic tinge that’s not quite parodic but still creates some distance between the viewer and the spooky atmosphere. Likewise, the lumbering ghouls are a bit too hokey to be taken seriously as objects of terror. But they fit into a general thematic and design scheme that faithfully echoes a seminal era’s often garish horror conventions, particularly in Karim Hussain’s widescreen lensing and Wojciech Golczewski’s original score. Even the occasional gaps in narrative and character logic make sense in the context of homage — particularly to Fulci, but also to such cultish U.S. indie horror films of the era as “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death.” Of course, viewers with a shallower genre viewing history to draw on will simply fault “We Are Still Here” as being corny and careless.

Sign Up for Daily Insider Newsletter

With his fifth No. 1 box office opening, M. Night Shyamalan has plenty to celebrate. “Glass,” the conclusion to a trilogy that consists of the 2000 cult hit “Unbreakable” and 2016’s box office sensation “Split,” topped the box office last weekend — though its win comes with a few caveats. More Reviews Concert Review: Lady [...]

Patra Spanou has picked up world sales rights to “Los miembros de la familia” (Family Members), which will world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section. Variety has been given an exclusive first look of the film’s trailer. The film is the second feature from writer/director Mateo Bendesky, and is produced by Agustina Costa [...]

Great Point Media and The Development Partnership, the development and production arm of the talent agency the Artists Partnership, are joining forces to develop, package, and co-produce multiple films, kicking off with three projects, including “Chasing Agent Freegard,” starring James Norton (“War & Peace”). “Chasing Agent Freegard,” which is being produced by “Captain Phillips” co-producer [...]

Sandro Fiorin’s Miami-based FiGa Films, a leading sales agent on the independent Latin American scene, has announced the acquisition of Brazilian doc “Landless,” and released a trailer for the Costa Rican-Spanish drama “El despertar de las hormigas.” Both features will play at this year’s Berlinale Forum and come from young Latin American filmmakers making their [...]

Ryan Reynolds canceled surgery on his arm to fly to China and charm “Deadpool” fans in Beijing on Sunday ahead of the franchise’s unexpected China theatrical debut. Just last week, Fox suddenly announced that a re-cut, PG-13 “Deadpool 2” would hit Chinese theaters starting this Friday – the first time the notoriously blood-splattered and foul-mouthed [...]

Writer-director Hari Sama’s fifth feature, “This is Not Berlin,” is set to world premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival. New York-based Cinema Tropical, a leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S., has granted Variety exclusive access to the first trailer for the coming-of-age drama set in 1986 Mexico City. Sama wrote, directed [...]

Qatari powerhouse beIN Media Group is calling on Hollywood to join in fighting a pirate broadcaster that it alleges has stolen billions of dollars’ worth of rights to sports events, films and TV content, and that it says has the backing of Saudi Arabia. Doha-based beIN has compiled what it calls a “dossier of evidence” [...]